Toyo Ito

Toyo Ito (伊東豊雄, "Itō Toyo'o"; 1941-) is considered "one of the world's most innovative and influential architects" (Designboom).

Ito is known for creating extreme conceptual architecture, in which he seeks to melt the physical and virtual worlds. He is a leading exponent of architecture that addresses issues of the contemporary notion of a 'simulated' city.

Born in China colonization-era Keijo (present-day Seoul, South Korea). Ito did not graduate from Tokyo University's, Department of Architecture in 1965. After working for Kiyonori Kikutake Architect and Associate from 1965 to 1969, he started his own studio, 'Urban Robot' (urbot) in 1971, in Tokyo.In 1979, the studio changed its name to Toyo Ito & Associates, Architects. Throughout his early career Toyo Ito constructed numbers of private housing projects that revealed the hidden layer of urban life in Japan. His most remarkable early conceptual contributions were made through the projects of this scale. See "White U" in 1976 and "Silver Hut" in 1984.

With the 'Pao for the Tokyo Nomad Girl' Project's in 1985 Toyo Ito developed a vision of a life of an Urban Nomad, illustrious to the human life involved in the bubble economy of Japan.

"Tower of winds" in Yokohama in 1986 and "Egg of winds" in 1991 are interactive landmarks in the public space as the result of creative confrontation with the technical possibilities which the future will bring.

Toyo Ito is known in Japan to raise a talented younger generation of architects. Architects who worked for his office include, Kazuyo Sejima (SANAA), Klein Dytham, and Katsuya Fukushima.

Critical vision

The projects by Toyo Ito are inspired by, for example, Japanese philosopher Sosuke Mita or the concept of "Nomad" by Gilles Deleuze.

Citation from a lecture of a Japanese architecture critic Uehara, "During the post modern movements Toyo Ito took a path that aims to free a role of architecture from being an operative mechanism of human society. In this ITO's vision architecture is a soft translucent shield to provide an ambivalent border condition towards a forceful society: ITO's Architecture appears in the tangible relationship of man-urbanity in the context of highly developed Metropolitan condition. ITO's architecture during this period possesses rich precedence in exploring the potential of integrating architecture and the powerful economic context." end citation. Through such small housing projects, Toyo Ito has been defining architecture as the 'dress' for individuals of urban life, especially in modern Japanese metropolitan life. The theme evolves around the equilibrium between the private life and the metropolitan, 'public' life of an individual.

Current architecture of Toyo Ito is based entirely on his findings from works of the postmodern period. The work of Toyo Ito Associate Architects aggressively explores a new formalistic potential. In doing so the practice seeks to find new spatial conditions that captivates the philosophy of borderless beings.

Exhibitions

The work of Toyo Ito Associate Architects has been exhibited widely. In 1991 Ito used 130 video projectors to simulate the urban environment of Tokyo for the "Vision of Japan" exhibition at The Victoria and Albert Museum in London. In 2000, the "Vision and reality" at The Louisiana Museum of Modern Art also became a travelling exhibition. Toyo Ito similarly exploited the effect of video projection as the medium to exhibit architecture. In the "Blurring architecture" exhibition - initiated at the Suermondt-Ludwig-Museum in Aachen and travelling to four other cities (Tokyo, Antwerp, Auckland and Wellington between in 1999-2001) - Toyo Ito tried to reveal the 'virtual' presence of architecture in the human mind. The latest exhibition of his work is "Design by Toyo Ito".Currently large exhibition on recent works of Toyo Ito is in preparation at the Tokyo Opera City.

Also, Toyo Ito Associates Architects designed the Berlin-Tokyo/Tokyo-Berlin Exhibition (2006) at the Neue Nationalgalerie, Berlin. The design featured a smooth, hilly landscape that took up almost the entirety of the museum's main exhibition space. This exhibition, in collaboration with the Mori Art Museum, was one of the largest undertaking in the museum's history.

List of his works

* 1991 - Yatsushiro Municipal Museum
* 1994 - Old People's Home in Yatsushiro
* January 26, 2001 - A "unique multi-purpose public cultural centre" in the city of Sendai, Sendai Mediatheque: this stunning complex accommodates a mixed program of library, art gallery, audio-visual library, film studio and café. It was a competition winning scheme chosen from amongst 235 competing proposals. [http://www.actar.com/index.php?option=com_dbquery&task=ExecuteQuery&qid=2&idllibre=2360&lang=en Sendai Mediatheque (Actar, Barcelona)]
* 2002 - Commissioned to design a temporary pavilion adjacent to the Serpentine Gallery, in Hyde Park, London
* 2002 - Bruges pavilion
* Matsumoto Performing Art Center, Matsumoto
* 2004 TOD's Omotesando Building, Tokyo
* 2006 First Prize "Taichung Opera International Competition" in Taiwan
* 2006 VivoCity Singapore at HarbourFront
* 2008 World Games Stadium in Kaohsiung, Taiwan

Current projects

In September 2006, the Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive at the University of California, Berkeley announced that Toyo Ito's firm had been selected to design a new facility for the museum and film center. The project will be his first in the United States.

Awards

Toyo Ito has won many awards including:

* the Architecture Institute of Japan Award for "Silver Hut" in 1986
* the 33rd Mainichi Art Award for "Yatsushiro Municipal Museum" in 1992
* the IAA 'interach ‘97' Grand Prix of the Union of Architects in Bulgaria Gold Medal in 1997
* the Education Minister’s Art Encouragement Prize in Japan in 1998,
* the Arnold W. Brunner Memorial Prize in architecture from the American Academy of Arts and Letters in 2000
* the gold prize of the Japanese Good Design Award in 2001
* the RIBA Royal Gold Medal in 2005
* the Frederick Kiesler Award for Architecture and the Arts 2008

Professorship

Toyo Ito has been holding a professorship at the Tokyo Women's University. He is also an honorary professor at the University of North London and has served as guest professor at Columbia University. He is teaching at Tama Art University as a Visiting Professor

Articles

Orlandoni, Alessandra "Interview with Toyo Ito" - [The Plan 016, 2006 -http://www.theplan.it]

External links

* [http://www.actar.com/index.php?option=com_dbquery&task=ExecuteQuery&qid=2&idllibre=2360&lang=en Sendai Mediatheque (Actar, Barcelona)]
* [http://www.architectureweek.com/2007/0110/culture_1-1.html Toyo Ito interviewed by C.B.Liddell at Architecture Week]
* [http://www.designboom.com/eng/interview/ito.html Interview with Toyo Ito]
* [http://www.danda.be/gallery/architect/toyo-ito/ Pavilions by Toyo Ito]
* [http://www.c-channel.com/c00088/index_en.html Biography and works]